battery going flat over night

COOPERSDAD · October 26, 2009, 03:58:21 PM

hey guys got a 1998 600 monster.new battery in it and when i got it it seemed to hold charge over night then i had starting issues due to washing it and fouling plugs up then a brand new battery went in and it will start all day long but if u leave it over night its dead flat.something must be draining it,any ideas on what it could be? where to start looking?

Ddan · October 26, 2009, 04:25:32 PM

Take all the fuses out. if it holds a charge put one back in, if it holds, put in another until you find the circuit causing the problem. That should narrow it down a bit for you.

COOPERSDAD · October 26, 2009, 04:57:46 PM

thats a good idea dan,with the light fuses?(tail light/head light) could it still nbe draining the batt even tho i cant see the lights on?

COOPERSDAD · October 26, 2009, 06:52:22 PM

is the master fuse meant to have power constantly even when its not on or no key in it? i checked it and seems that the fuse always has power going to it

COOPERSDAD · October 26, 2009, 08:08:57 PM

found some water in a loom thats the only thing i could see that could be draining the battery,also when i plug the multimeter in and rev the bike i only get 11.43? shouldnt i be getting more? or does it only go up when u ride the bike under load?

COOPERSDAD · October 26, 2009, 09:05:48 PM

i just noticed sitting there with the bike being off and key out the rectifier/regulator is getting hot? what the hell? is it stuffed? i know its not meant to be getting hot so what is going on?

Speeddog · October 26, 2009, 09:22:37 PM

The regulator will get warm/hot when you're running the engine, but it should start cooling off as soon as the engine is off.

It may take a little while to get cold, but it shouldn't be continuously warm.

The fact that you're not getting more voltage at the battery when you're running the engine isn't a good sign.
*However*
I've found that the older charging systems like yours will not play nicely with some multimeters.
I've run into the situation where my multimeter won't give the same reading as the one the guy next door has, when the engine is running.
They will agree when the engine is off.
I think there's some AC voltage coming through that confuses my multimeter.

COOPERSDAD · October 26, 2009, 09:41:21 PM

OK GETS HOT WHEN IT OFF,SPOKE TO A GUY THAT REKONS THEY GOT A ONE WAY DIODE(SPELLING) AND THEY BRAKE AND THATS IT.IVE ALSO TRIED PUTTING THE MULTIMETER ON THE STAOR WIRES(YELLOW) WHILE THE ENGINE IS ON AND I GET NOTHING? SHOUDL I BE GETTING SOMETHING?

Speeddog · October 26, 2009, 09:48:36 PM

You should be getting an AC voltage directly off of the stator wires.

Howie · October 26, 2009, 10:00:20 PM

Hmmm, never thought about it, but I suppose AC ripple from the single phase could affect the reading of some meters. Anyway, yes, it is possible the regulator could be draining the battery. With the key off, disconnect the regulator, then disconnect the negative battery cable. Place a volt meter between the cable and the battery terminal. You should read 0 volts unless you have an alarm, if so, disconnect the alarm. Reconnect the regulator. If you now read battery voltage the regulator is the drain. If you were reading battery voltage with the regulator disconnected, pull the fuses one by one until the voltage goes to 0. The circuit that fuse protects is the culprit.

How are you hooking the volt meter up to the stator wires? It seems wierd (but possible) you are getting 0 out of both.

COOPERSDAD · October 26, 2009, 10:12:16 PM

OK DONE THAT WITH NO REG ON IM GETTING 0.02 AND WITH THE REG PLUGGED IN AND THE MULTI METER ON THE NEG BATTERY SIDE AND CABLE IM GETTING 11.78 DOES THIS MEAN MY REG HAS PACKED IT IN? ITS NOT GETTING HOT ANY MORE WHEN THE BIKE IS OFF IVE NOTICED.IM WORRIED WITH THE BIKE OFF IM NOT GETTING ANY POWER COMING FROM THE 3 YELLOW WIRES ON THE STATOR,THANKS HEAPS FOR UR HELP GUYS

Howie · October 27, 2009, 08:21:12 AM

Quote from: COOPERSDAD on October 26, 2009, 10:12:16 PM
OK DONE THAT WITH NO REG ON IM GETTING 0.02 AND WITH THE REG PLUGGED IN AND THE MULTI METER ON THE NEG BATTERY SIDE AND CABLE IM GETTING 11.78 DOES THIS MEAN MY REG HAS PACKED IT IN? ITS NOT GETTING HOT ANY MORE WHEN THE BIKE IS OFF IVE NOTICED.IM WORRIED WITH THE BIKE OFF IM NOT GETTING ANY POWER COMING FROM THE 3 YELLOW WIRES ON THE STATOR,THANKS HEAPS FOR UR HELP GUYS

Am I reading this correctly? With the engine not running you will have 0 volts since the rotor is not spinning. If you have three wires then you have a three phase alternator. Actually, now that I think about it, since I have no schematic of the internals of the regulator I am not sure how they isolate the regulator. A better test would be to use an ammeter with a milliamp scale. If you see more than, well Ducati has no spec, 2 milliamps you have a problem. As far as your stator working, you want to see 27 volts + 10 % at 2000 RPM and 78 volts + 10 % at 6000RPM. This is AC voltage, so you will need a meter that reads AC.

This may also help you:
http://www.electrosport.com/technical-resources/library/diagnosis/fault-finding-guide.php

Oh, here is a real weird product specific Ducati problem that I haven't heard of in years. There were some Monsters that came out of the factory with a strange defect. If you lift your seat you will see rubber pieces holding your flasher and main relay. Some of the rubber pieces had a high enough carbon content to work as a poor conductor. Add some dirt build up that is also a poor conductor and you have a small parasitic draw

Dirt on the battery case can do the same thing. Like I said small, so I doubt this is your problem.

COOPERSDAD · October 27, 2009, 04:06:18 PM

ok heres yet another update,i left the battery plugged in over night with the rectifier plugged in aswell.i dismounted the rectifier from the frame and let it just sit on the motor.battery did not go flat over night,woke up checked the multi and it said 11.60 which is what i left it at last night.hit the starter button and it started right away.but when the multi is on the battery and i give it a slight rev it dosnt seem to jump much,it will jump up and down a few numbers and thats it.is it my stator thats had it?

ducpainter · October 27, 2009, 04:08:19 PM

Did you run the tests in the link howie posted?

http://www.electrosport.com/technical-resources/library/diagnosis/fault-finding-guide.php

COOPERSDAD · October 27, 2009, 04:57:26 PM

im off to the shops to buy a new multimeter,the 2 ive tried here are giving me 2 diff readings on everything :-( will post up what i can find

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battery going flat over night